• The Winery Dogs released their first album in July, but if you are a serious fan of Progressive Metal and Hard Rock, you were likely already familiar with the virtuosic instrumental prowess of the trio’s members — drummer Mike Portnoy (cofounder of modern Prog legends Dream Theater), singer/guitarist Richie Kotzen (Poison, Mr. Big) and masterful bassist Billy Sheehan, who has played with David Lee Roth, Mr. Big and many others. The Dogs sport a heavy, Classic Rock-influenced sound akin to Led Zeppelin but distinct due to the players’ flashy, progressive riffing and drumming.
The trio plays Corryville’s The Mad Frog tonight. Doors open at 8 p.m. and Sixxis is the opening act.
Here’s a nice review of the Dogs’ show in Cleveland over the weekend. Check out the band’s music video for the track “Time Machine” below:
• The instrumental quintet Lotus is one of the leading forces in the Livetronica movement, which features artists taking an Electronic and Dance music core and turning it inside out, mixing in plenty of other influences and leaving arrangements wide open for live-show improvisation. Embraced by the “Jam Band” community, groups like Lotus (which dips into Rock, Funk, Jazz, Post Rock and beyond on its musical adventures) are helping to push the boundaries of improvisational music in a modern context.
The band’s 2013 album Monks is another great example of Lotus’s creative membership pushing forward without any genre anchors around their necks. The LP is a compelling Hip Hop record featuring numerous guest MCs, including Mr. Lif, Gift of Gab, Lyrics Born and several others. The album is available for free download here.
Lotus performs at Covington’s Madision Theater tonight with exquisitely monikered (and musically like-minded) Electro trio Cosby Sweater opening things up at 8 p.m. Admission is $20 at the door.
Here’s the Monks track “Cloud 9,” featuring Philly MC Ras Arcane and Digable Planets’ Doodlebug:
• After all the reported in-fighting, hiatuses and breakups they’ve been through, it seems like rockers The Black Crowes have finally realized that, both creatively and financially, they need each other. The band have become a bit like The Rolling Stones in that way — after so many years and so much chemistry, even though Mick and Keith often seem to despise each other, they keep the Stones flag flying because it’s what they do. The Crowes are in an interesting position, where they can still go out and just play their “hits” and fan favorites, continually drawing big crowds thanks to the cultishly loyal fan base they’ve built up over years of amazing live shows.
That’s just what the Crowes will be doing tonight when they return to the Taft Theatre tonight for an 8 p.m. show. There’s no new album (the most recent Crowes release was 2010’s Croweology, a retrospective consisting of mostly acoustic versions of their finest songs), so expect a fan-friendly set of Crowes faves, a cover or two (the band has been doing Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well” on this tour) and lots and lots of jamming. Though the continued success of the band on the road suggests this is far from the band’s last tour, the Crowes have said this will be their last jaunt for a while as they tend to other projects outside of the band.
Here’s a big chunk of a Crowes’ performance in Virginia this past September:
Click here for even more live music options in Greater Cincinnati tonight.

Feb. 14 • Madison Theater

If Bluegrass comes from Kentucky and Blues is from Memphis, where does Jam Band music come from? If you’re a Lotus fan, it comes from Indiana.
Lotus formed at Goshen College in 1999 and quickly gained fans with their synth-y, electronic take on Jam.